Ryan's mom a face in Medicare wars

Betty Ryan Douglas, 78, is the newest face of the Medicare wars that have abruptly taken center stage in the 2012 contest, joining her son here Saturday in the town square of a sprawling retirement community as Ryan assured seniors that he and Mitt Romney won’t take away their Medicare and Social Security.

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“Like a lot of Americans, when I think about Medicare, it’s not just a program,” Ryan told the mostly elderly crowd at The Villages, a central Florida retirement community that is billed as the world’s largest. “It’s what my mom relies on. It’s what my grandma had.”

Douglas — who spends her winters in nearby Lauderdale-By-The-Sea — plays tennis and works out every day, Ryan said, and she appeared spry as the two walked hand in hand toward the stage.

The congressman pointed to his mother as an example of how the debate over Medicare is both political and personal in a state with the highest percentage of elderly voters in the country. To voters here today, Betty is a “Medicare senior in Florida,” one of the nation’s many “snowbirds” who flees colder climes during the winter months for the warmth of places like Florida.

“Medicare was there for our family, for my grandma, when we needed it then, and Medicare is there for my mom while she needs that now, and we need to keep that guaranteed,” the House Budget Committee chairman said, describing the experience of being one of the primary caregivers for his grandmother, who suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s.

As the vice presidential nominee debuted in Florida, Ryan and his mom — who wore a yellow jacket and white pants — were greeted by several thousand enthusiastic retirees, some who were camped out here for hours to see the mother-son team. Law enforcement officials estimated 3,000 people crowded into the town square, and more spilled onto streets lined with golf carts, the transportation method of choice for most of the community’s residents.

The 42-year-old lawmaker revved up the crowd and was met with applause, but the cheers for his message on energy and small businesses were more enthusiastic than for his remarks on health care.

The Villages is a familiar stop for presidential candidates and Republicans in particular. The developer of the community and his family have personally donated more than $1.5 million to Republican candidates and super PACs this election cycle.

Florida is a must-win state for the GOP presidential ticket, and the race has grown more heated here since Ryan was named as the vice presidential contender last weekend. Debate over his controversial budget plan — which would turn Medicare into a voucher program for seniors after the year 2023 — has since become pivotal, and Republicans are working overtime to defend their proposals.

Romney and Ryan have attacked President Barack Obama for cuts to the Medicare trust fund to pay for his health care reform, and Ryan hewed to that line today.

Ryan accused the president of “raiding” Medicare to pay for the Affordable Care Act and going back on a promise that so many seniors are counting on. The Obama campaign argues that Ryan and Romney aren’t telling the whole story when it comes to their Medicare reform plans, omitting crucial details that would be unpopular with seniors.

“What’s worse is the president’s campaign calls this an achievement,” Ryan said. “Do you think raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare is an achievement? Do you think that empowering a board of bureaucrats to cut Medicare is anachievement? Neither do I.”

He and Romney, Ryan said, will make sure that Medicare is not “used as a piggybank for Obamacare,” and it should remain “the promise that it made to our current seniors, period, end of story.”